Southern Cloud plane crash remembered

28 OCTOBER 2008

In May 1931 two crew and six passengers lost their lives in one
of Australia's greatest aviation mysteries — the
disappearance of the Southern Cloud. Despite a comprehensive
air search, the wreck lay undiscovered in the Snowy Mountains for
27 years.

The Southern Cloud was operated by Australian National
Airways which was founded by aviation pioneers Charles Kingsford
Smith and Charles Ulm. The plane disappeared during a flight from
Sydney to Melbourne in the early years of Australian commercial
aviation and completely vanished in cyclonic conditions.

On 26 October 1956 Tom Sonter, a worker on the Snowy
Hydro-Electric Scheme stumbled upon the wreck of the Avro X
aircraft while bushwalking above the rugged Tooma River Gorge near
Cabramurra.

Fifty years on from his remarkable discovery, Tom Sonter visited
the National Museum of Australia to view a display which tells the
story of one of Australia's great aviation mysteries and features
two objects from the Southern Cloud.

"The disappearance of the Southern Cloud was followed by
one of the biggest air searches to that time in Australia," said
Matthew Higgins, Senior Curator at the National Museum of
Australia.

"The resulting official inquiry recommended the installation of
radio in scheduled passenger flights so that weather forecasts
could be transmitted. Southern Cloud's legacy was safer air
travel for all Australians," Matthew said.

The Southern Cloud display is on view at the National
Museum of Australia until Sunday 30 November, 2008. For more
information about the display visit www.nma.gov.au